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Efforts by the government to improve the nutritional standards of school meals are being undermined as hundreds of primary schools fail to offer children a hot lunch, according to new figures.
A survey of local authorities conducted by the Conservatives found almost one in five primary schools serve pupils "meals on wheels" due to a lack of adequate kitchen facilities on site.
Compiled using the Freedom of Information Act, the survey also found three out of ten schools did not have full kitchens, forcing some 670 schools to serve only cold food.
The news comes as schools secretary Ed Balls introduced new mandatory nutrient standards of school kitchens in secondary schools.
A two-year pilot of free school meals began in Newham, east London as well as in County Durham.
New nutrient standards require an average lunch, rather than one meal, to include at least one portion of vegetables or salad and one piece of fruit.
Ministers said the new measures were designed to reduce childhood obesity and to encourage healthier eating habits among youngsters.
Balls said: "Eating a nutritious meal at lunchtime from a young age can help improve the behaviour of children in school and at home – that's why these pilots are so important.
"Healthy school meals are vital to helping children do well at school and to prevent obesity."
Expected to cost £1bn a year if rolled out nationwide, the free school meals initiative is currently only available to those children living in households with an annual income of less than £16,040.
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb accused the government of "more spin and empty promises", stating it will be impossible to find the funding to extend the scheme nationally.
He added: "£1bn is the equivalent of 33,000 full time teachers, they would effectively have to stop all teacher recruitment in order to pay for it, regardless of the fact that one in five primary schools don’t even currently have a kitchen."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd